Wonderland
by bluestoplights
Summary: Canon-divergence from 2.01 / Emma winds up in Wonderland alone when she falls through the hat. That is, until she crosses paths with a fairytale pirate.


**A/N: Hey! It looks like I'm just in time for Day 3 of CS AU Week, which just so happens to be the another world prompt. Writing this involved a rewatch of the fantastic Syfy miniseries Alice, so you'll see bits and pieces of inspiration throughout this piece, I think. I honestly cannot recommend it highly enough, especially considering the Hatter/Alice dynamic is _so Emma/Killian it actually pains me_. I haven't seen a single episode of OUATIW, but I read a hell of a lot of recaps and wikis on it before deciding to...basically...chuck half of the mythology out of the window. I mean, I try to make it a _little_ flexible - but I was not going to write a talking fucking rabbit. I've done a lot of things for those two. That is not going to be one of them. Looking glasses go both ways now, I don't care. Also, I guess the Jabberwocky is still a person but also has a monster named after it? IDK. IDK. Just go with it.**

 **Honestly, I can't thank Amber (sentbyfools) enough for being my beta/brainstorm helper/cheerleader/the best? in general?**

 **I hope you guys enjoy!**

-/-

The plan was simple: bait the dementor looking thing to go through the hat. The thing disappears from their world. Regina lives to threaten to kill them another day. Problem is solved.

It didn't really work out that way, judging by the fact Emma ended up being dragged along into the portal that sucked her who knows where. She lands with a hard fall and all that appears to be around her is a vast amount of forest.

Emma has never really been one for hiking (or camping, for that matter) but she's stuck doing just that for days on end.

Walk for miles. Sleep for a few hours. Walk for a few more miles.

Rinse and repeat.

That is until she runs, miraculously, into some sort of abandoned building in the middle of the forest. It hadn't been abandoned for too long, it looked like, and the closer she got to it the more she could make out the name on the sign.

 _The Dormouse's Tea Shop._

Emma has been managing to sustain herself off of berries (it's partly sheer luck that she hasn't poisoned herself and partly watching what the - seriously - weirdest animals she's ever seen were eating) and water from creeks, but, God - abandoned or not...

Tea shops have food, generally, right?

Emma's stomach rumbles and she sighs. It didn't look as if there would be anyone even there to condemn her for stealing from them (if there was anything to steal), so she reluctantly ducks into the place.

The door isn't even _locked_.

The shop is definitely abandoned and there doesn't look to be so much as a crumb in the place, just a seemingly endless supply of drawers. Emma opens all of them, intent on not coming out empty handed. All she's able to find are a bunch of empty bottles.

" _Drink me."_ one label instructs on a tiny vial. Another one says, _"Shrink me down to size"._

This place is fucking creepy, she swears.

Just as Emma is about to give up, she hears a creaking sound coming from somewhere inside of the building.

Someone else is in the shop, by the sounds of it. She curses, withdrawing her gun from its holster and pointing it towards the direction of the sound.

"What the bloody hell is in your hands, lass?"

The accented voice comes from behind her and she whips around to face a man in his early thirties, clad head to toe in leather.

Emma is shell-shocked for a moment, but manages to find her voice. "What are you doing?"

"Same as you, I suppose, robbing the place." the man replies nonchalantly. "There isn't much gold here, as I've just discovered. Just in case you were wondering."

"I'm armed."

"With that?" the man asks skeptically, gesturing to the gun in her hands with what appears to be a hook attached to the end of his left arm. "I don't know what damage a scrap of metal is going to do, love, I hate to tell you."

"What's on _your_ hands, buddy?" Emma replies instead of trying to explain the concept of guns to the stranger. Honestly, there wasn't a point.

She definitely wasn't anywhere near home.

"Ah," the man comments idly, lifting his hook up as if he's inspecting it for the first time. "my hook. I suppose I should introduce myself. I'm Killian Jones, though you may know me by more colorful moniker, Hook."

"As in Captain Hook?" she asks dubiously.

Hook grins widely, sliding towards her. "Ah, so you've heard of me."

"Aren't you a pirate? Where's your ship?" Emma questions, grip on her weapon unwavering.

"We aren't far from the shore, lass. I'd be glad to show you my ship if you…" he leans forward until he's inches from the gun in her hand, seemingly undeterred by its presence. "Care to inform me of who you are. It's only fair. You know mine, now."

Emma ponders this for a moment, biting her lip. It's not as if the man - Captain Hook, apparently - would be able to do anything too nefarious with just her name. "Emma. Emma Swan."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, _Emma_." Hook bends slightly forward with a smirk. "I'd offer to shake your hand, however you seem rather attached to holding whatever strange object is in your hands."

"This fires bullets," Emma explains dryly. "Bullet goes into you, you die. Sort of like...a small cannon? Do you have cannons here?"

"We do," Killian replies with a wince, seeming to eye the weapon in her hands with a bit more respect. "I don't see the necessity of having such cannons pointed at _me_ , however."

"Isn't Captain Hook a villain?"

"You're not from here," he observes carefully instead of answering her question. "Your clothing suggests as much as well as whatever strange weapon you're pointing at me."

Emma just keeps her hands on her gun, steadily pointed at him _. Captain Hook_. Just her luck, really.

"The Land Without Magic, I suppose?" he presses on, still not concerned in the slightest with her _small cannon_.

Emma exhales. "I don't exactly know how much magic it does and doesn't have anymore."

Killian seems unsatisfied by the news of Storybrooke's questionable magical presence, but evidently pleased with the fact he was able to get her to confirm where she came from.

"In that case…" Hook trails off suggestively, hand coming up to rest on his chin. "I don't need to be your enemy, love."

She narrows her eyes, not trusting him for a second. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"You want to get back to your world. I need passage there." he bounces along with his sales pitch. "It seems we have the same goal, Swan."

"Why? Why do you want to go to my world?"

Hook answers her question quickly. "Nothing underhanded, I assure you."

The statement registers as a lie and she grimaces. "Let me let you in on a little secret. I'm pretty good at telling when someone is lying to me."

"It's a good thing I'm not lying."

It's yet another lie.

"Tell me the truth or I'll pull the trigger," Emma states simply, her stance rigid.

Hook cocks his head to the side. "You wouldn't do that, sweetheart."

"Really?" she retorts without so much as flinching. "Try me."

He scans her expression for any hint of hesitation. Hook doesn't seem to find any. "I want revenge on the man who took my hand. His name is Rumplestiltskin."

Gold. The man who nearly caused her son to die. Emma frowns, at war with herself over the news. On one hand, as displayed with her parents' (it still hurt her head to think of David and Mary Margaret as _that_ ) protection of Regina, it wasn't their place to act as judge, jury, and executioner over people like them - regardless of their sins.

But look where being a hero had gotten her - in an abandoned tea shop with Captain Hook being her one opportunity at getting back to her son.

She sighs and Hook just observes her as quietly as he can. "Give me one good reason why I should trust you."

Hook shrugs, eyes surveying the area around her dramatically. "Does it look as if you have a choice?"

Emma groans in exasperation.

He may have a point. Hook is the first person she's met in this strange place and she isn't going to get home by trial-and-error camping. He's offering her a way home. Emma still has the upper hand so long as she has her gun. Emma would be stupid not to take the deal.

She lowers her gun back into her waistband. "Don't think I'm taking my eyes off you for a second."

"I would despair if you did." He grins widely, stepping past her on the way on the door. She reluctantly follows him.

Hook does not stop talking on the way there, pressing her for more information. How did she wind up in Wonderland? What did she do back in her world? Did she have any family?

Emma ignores all the questions, just trudging alongside him.

Hook takes it all in stride. "You know, most men would take your silence as off-putting, but I love a challenge."

"I'm concentrating," she replies quickly.

"No, you're afraid," he comments matter-of-factly. "Afraid to talk – to reveal yourself. Trust me – things'll be a lot smoother if you do."

Emma grimaces. "You should be used to people not trusting you."

"Ah, the pirate thing," Hook counters. "Well, I don't need you to share. You're something of an open book."

She scoffs. "Am I?"

"Quite. Let's see – you volunteered to come with me because you were motivated to get home. You need to get back to someone, a family member I'm willing to gamble."

"That's not perception. That's an easy guess." Emma rolls her eyes. "Most people have families they want to get back to."

"Most people," Hook replies somberly, knowingly as if he has experience in the matter. "But not all. You don't want to abandon them like you were abandoned."

Emma raises an eyebrow. "Was I?"

"Like I said," he tells her with a small smile. "An open book."

She's genuinely bothered by the revelation. _How the hell would he know?_ "How would you know that?"

"I spent many years in Neverland – home of the Lost Boys. They all share the same look in their eyes… The look you get when you've been left alone."

The words are said with the same sort of soft understanding and that bothers her more than anything he's said so far. Emma bristles at the idea of someone, this stranger, _Captain fucking Hook_ being able to see through her this easily.

Emma does her best to deflect. "Yeah, well, my world ain't Neverland."

"But an orphan's an orphan." he continues, undeterred. "Love has been all too rare in your life, hasn't it? Have you ever even been in love?"

Right on the first two counts. Wrong on the last. Emma feels a frown twitching at her lips.

"No. I have never been in love." The lie comes off her tongue easily.

Hook lets the subject drop, though maybe she can read him just as well if she can tell he knows she's lying. They walk alongside each other without any words between them until they reach the shore.

"Here we are," he announces, gesturing to the empty ocean in front of him. "My ship is right there."

Emma blinks, eyes searching for his ship and only finding more water.

"Is that a joke?"

"No, just a cloaking spell." Hook smirks, stepping up on something she can't see. He almost looks to be levitating off the ground.

Emma swears she has to be hallucinating.

"Give me your hand." Hook instructs matter-of factly, his hand outreached towards her.

Emma grimaces. "Is that really necessary?"

Hook huffs, giving her a disapproving glare. "Do you want my help or not?"

She relents against her better judgement, clasping her hand on his and letting him tug her on an invisible boat that she's sure doesn't exist.

"You know, I don't know how you expect me to believe-"

The words catch in her throat. Sure enough, she's standing aboard a grand pirate ship - looking as if it's straight out of a movie.

"Welcome aboard, Swan." Hook tells her, eyeing her astonished expression with a grin. "You were saying?"

For such a big ship, it looks pretty desolated. "Where's your crew?"

"They all got swept up in a terrible curse, I'm afraid." Hook sighs, gesturing to the empty deck. "I manage just fine on my own. She's made of enchanted wood, you know."

Emma furrows her eyebrows. "Wait, are we in the Enchanted Forest?"

Killian appears baffled at her statement. "How do you know about the Enchanted Forest? I thought you said you were from the Land Without Magic?"

"I-" she hesitates, unsure of how even to explain anything. Emma still can hardly make sense out of her life as it is. "I was born in the Enchanted Forest, I guess. Every other day of my life I was in...Earth...Land Without Magic...whatever. The curse is broken now, though, I sort of accidentally broke it."

"You're the _Savior_?" Killian asks, seemingly mystified by her revelation.

 _Great_. The S-word.

"How do you know that? Nevermind, I don't want to know." Emma looks up at the sky in frustration. "Are we in the Enchanted Forest or not?"

"No, we're not." he answers idly. "We're somewhere much less pleasant, I'm afraid."

"What? Neverland?"

"What do you know about Neverland?" he questions, raising an eyebrow.

Emma rolls her eyes. "You're Captain Hook. There was a movie...and a book, I think. You had a mustache and a perm and - well, just tell me where the hell we are."

"Wonderland," he answers shortly, moving to steer his ship back out to sea. "We're in Wonderland."

"Wonderland," She repeats, hardly believing the words. It shouldn't be a shock, given everything (she came here through a _ha_ t and is having a conversation with _Captain Hook_ ,) but there is still the instinctual disbelief that comes with living in a fairytale. "The kid's story? As in Alice and Wonderland? With the creepy smiling cat and the weird caterpillar and the queen of hearts?"

"I've never met an Alice here," Hook replies breezily. "I'd advise avoiding the Chesire Cat if you'd like to not become his dinner, as well as staying away from the Caterpillar. As for the Queen of Hearts...well, let's just say I've learned Cora is to be avoided."

"So what?" Emma questions, wondering how the hell they're going to manage to get out of this place. "We need a rabbit hole? A looking glass?"

"A looking glass, preferably." Killian answers the question readily. "I don't trust the rabbits."

Don't trust the rabbits. _Okay, then._ "Where do we find one of those?"

"The Queen of Hearts has one in her palace." he answers briskly. "We get in, jump through it, and you return to your charming world of children's stories."

"Didn't you just tell me that the Queen of Hearts is to be avoided?" Emma scrunches her face, not convinced of his plan.

Hook scowls. "Let's just say my partnership with Cora didn't end well."

"You backstabbed her?"

"How did you guess?"

"You're not the only open book. You seem like the type."

He sighs in frustration. "Believe it or not, Cora is not the most pleasant person. She'll kill you as soon as it bodes well for her. I saw an out and I took it, been on the run from her ever since. She was foolish enough to not remove the cloaking spell from my ship, though, now she has no bloody clue where I am."

"That still doesn't answer why we're going to walk into the home of someone who apparently wants you dead," Emma comments skeptically.

"We don't have much of a choice, I'm afraid. My guess is that she's already long gone, however."

Emma grows more and more dissatisfied with his plan the more he lays it out. "Long gone?"

"She's likely in pursuit of her daughter back in your world." he shrugs noncommittally. "Meaning her castle is wide open to us."

"Who's her daughter?"

"The Evil Queen," he frowns. "Similarly unpleasant, but I'm sure if you broke the curse you've already encountered Regina."

Emma resists the temptation to tear her hair out. "Let me get this straight, Regina's mother is the Queen of Hearts, who hates you after you double crossed her, and the entire town is at risk if she gets over there."

"What is Cora going to manage in a world without magic?" Hook asks, as if the thought doesn't bother him. Her earlier words seem to come back to haunt him. "Well, then…"

She puts her face in her hands. "What part of Storybrooke may or may not have magic are you not getting?"

"Love, her primary concern is getting to Regina." Hook does his best to shrug it off, but she can tell he's not satisfied with the news, either. "The only other person I could think she'd bother getting involved is me, and I've spent long enough evading angry monarchs over the years."

Which would put anyone close to Regina in Cora's warpath. _Henry_.

"I hope you sail fast," Emma grits out.

Killian gestures to the wood under their feet. "You're standing on the fastest ship in the realm, love."

Emma stands in thought for a moment, back against the mast. "What do you get out of bringing me along this little adventure, anyway?"

"You're far safer company than Cora, love, even after you threatened to kill me." Hook retorts with a grin. "Plus, it can't hurt to have a resident from the land I wish to go to along for the journey."

Emma rolls her eyes. "I'm not going to be your tour guide, Hook."

"Ah, but aren't I doing such a marvelous job of being yours, Swan?"

-/-

"Here will be your quarters," Hook tells her, leading her below deck to a room with a few empty bunks.

Emma has to say she's relieved at the thought of sleeping in a real bed. "Thanks."

"The galley is on the second door to the right, in case you find yourself in need of it." Hook adds with a small smile. "Dried fruit and tack is hardly royal cuisine, I'm aware, but…"

"It beats scavenging for berries," she finishes with a shrug.

Hook nods. "Aye, that it does. How long were you alone here?"

"A few days." She shrugs it off. "Nothing major."

Hook seems to contemplate that for a moment. "I've only been here a few days, as well, but I've been here before."

Emma just gives him a quiet nod, moving to take her boots off. He hands her a quilt - freshly cleaned - from a nearby bunk and she mutters her thanks. As Hook is handing it over, though, she can't help but notice something on his arm.

"Who's Milah on the tattoo?" Emma questions softly, eyes flickering up to meet his.

The breath seems to be sucked out of his body, his gaze meeting the floor. "Someone from long ago."

Emma knows deflection well enough. "Where is she?"

"She's gone," he replies, almost halfway out the door by the time he replies.

"Gold." Emma gets out, watching as he stops in his tracks at her words. "Rumpelstiltskin. He took more than your hand from you, didn't he? That's why you want to kill him."

Hook turns around to face her, looking as if he's deep in thought. "For someone who's never been in love, you're quite perceptive, aren't you?"

"Maybe I was, once."

And that's all that really needs saying.

"I'm the door directly across from yours," Hook tells her a beat later. His words are more careful, now. There's almost an air of hesitation about them. "If you need anything, don't be afraid to knock."

Emma opens her mouth, almost having a different response for him. About Regina and how she almost killed Henry and she could've killed her but revenge wouldn't have left her anything but empty, anyway.

She's had enough emotionally charged conversations with Hook for only hours of knowing him, though, anyway.

Emma elects for a simple, "Goodnight, Hook."

His response is a sad smile. "Goodnight, Swan."

-/-

"Good morning, Swan," Hook greets jubilantly once she comes up from below deck. "Get enough rest?"

Despite the fact that she's finally had the opportunity to sleep in a real bed for the first time in days, she didn't. Emma spent most of the night tossing and turning, worried out of her mind for Henry and anxious to get back to him.

"Yeah," she answers briskly.

By the way he's eyeing her, Hook likely knows she's lying. He doesn't comment on it, though.

Killian redirects the subject. "We should be making land within a couple of days, here, Swan."

Emma grimaces at the idea of having to wait that long.

He notices. "It's the best we can do, I'm afraid. It gives us more time to plan. Cora should be in pursuit of her daughter by now, but we could have other obstacles. We might run into a few guards, for example."

She sighs. "Guards?"

"Guards," he affirms, grabbing a spare sword from the deck. "You have any experience with swords, Swan?"

"I slayed a dragon with one, once." Emma deadpans.

Hook raises an eyebrow. "I dare say, I'm impressed. When was this?"

Emma does the math in her head. "About a week ago. Give or take a few days."

Hook has to laugh at that, the sound warm and deep, shaking his head in what can only be described as awe. "Ah, you're a tough lass. You'd make a hell of a pirate."

She takes the compliment for what it is.

"Have you ever been in a sword fight?" he asks, rephrasing the question and wiggling his eyebrows.

"Can't say I've really had the occasion to. I'm more for the modern weapons," Emma replies, gesturing to the gun in her belt.

Hook grins. "I can tell. That won't work well in a swordfight, however. A shot goes off and you have much more to worry about than a few simple guards."

She doesn't even have the opportunity to ask him what exactly he means by that before he places the sword in her hand.

"Here," Hook mutters, coming up to stand behind her and gently wrapping his hand around hers on the sword. Emma sharply exhales, but doesn't tell him to back off. "I'll show you how to use it."

The way he enunciates the 'it' is nothing less than obscene. She swallows. "You good with swords?"

"One of the best in all the realms," he boasts, making a swiping motion with the sword with her hand still under his. "You're lucky, you know, getting such an experienced teacher. I'm older than I look."

Emma gives him a disbelieving glare as she does her best to follow along with the motions he makes. "Humble, too."

"Trust me, Swan, I know how to use my sword." he replies, voice low and melodic. "I also now how to make someone _feel it_."

He slides the sword into the sheath at the last word. Emma finds herself a little parched, considering going to the galley in search of water.

"You alright there, Swan?" Hook asks with a smug grin, still pressed against her back.

Emma steps away from him at that. "How about the actual sparring, then? Like, the swords clanging together and all that. I doubt being able to make the motions will be enough to go against an actual opponent."

"Of course," he cedes, handing her back her sword.

It starts off with a few light taps, with some careful instruction on her stance and weaknesses in her pose. Emma is a quick learner, though, so they quickly escalate into full-on sparring, swords clanging rapidly with Hook eventually ceasing his instruction and instead letting her put the advice to good use.

"Your opponent is going to fight dirty if they can," he tells her, in between clangs. "You need to be prepared for that. And be willing to fight back just as dirty should it come to that."

At that, he knocks her sword out of her hands.

"Hey!" she says, defensively.

Hook merely shrugs. "As I told you, love."

Emma lunges for him, forgoing the sword entirely with a yell of frustration. Hook merely ducks out of the way, then tosses his sword and grabs her by the boot in an attempt to stop her from reaching her sword.

"Seriously?" she groans in exasperation, managing to grab her sword and bring herself back up on two feet regardless.

"As I said," Hook comments, grabbing a hold of his sword once again as they begin sparring. "Be ready to match someone when they play _dirty_."

Emma rolls her eyes and does her best to match his blows as quickly as she can.

"Good form," he commends with a smirk, lifting her weaker leg up to meet his hips with his hook. "But not good enough."

Emma somehow winds up with her back to the deck and her sword trapped between Hook's sword and the curve of his Hook.

"You might want to quit," Hook observes, eyeing the picture they make splaying across the deck of his ship.

"Why would I want to do that when I'm winning?" Emma asks, cuffing the side of his head and rolling them over so that she's sitting astride him instead. "How is that for playing dirty?"

Hook doesn't respond for a moment, just looking up at her a little shell-shocked.

"It appears you're quite the natural, love," he croaks and all she can do is give him a victorious grin.

-/-

It's later that night, once they've both made steady headway in his handy flask of rum and they're sitting opposite each other on bunks below deck that they find themselves in a moment of a little too much sincerity.

"Thank you, for letting me come with you," Emma manages, the words feeling foreign on her tongue. "You didn't have to. I'm probably more of a burden than a benefit, right now."

"Hardly." Hook shakes his head. "I find myself enjoying your company, Swan. Even if you're scowling at me, most of the time."

Emma has to laugh at that and he softens.

"That's what I like to see," he observes softly, motioning to her smile with a small one of his own.

Her face falls a little, feeling a little too self-conscious.

Emma does her best to change the subject. "How did you end up in Wonderland, anyway?"

Hook sighs heavily. "I made a deal with Cora that I thought would take me to my revenge. We were frozen in the Enchanted Forest for almost three decades, but Cora decided she needed to revisit where she ruled before she decided to seek out Regina. They have quite a rocky relationship, those two. I quickly found that Cora's company was proving to be more of a liability than I had anticipated - teaming up with murderous sorceresses."

Emma flinches.

 _A murderous sorceresses who had Henry directly in her line of fire._

"Hey," he mutters, leaning forward from his position on the opposite bunk. "You can tell me what's wrong, Swan."

"I…" she trails off. It's only right, to respond to his story with one of her own. "I have a son. Henry. That's who I need to get back to."

Hook nods in understanding. "You're worried about him."

"I think anyone would be worried about their kid," Emma rubs her temples. "But that combined with the fact that he was adopted by Regina and therefore would be a potential target for her lunatic mom isn't helping matters."

Hook doesn't even so much as comment on the twisted family tree, just tells her: "We'll stop her before it comes to that.

"We?" she asks, jaw slightly agape.

Hook seems to consider his words for a second, acting as if he himself didn't anticipate them leaving his mouth. He meets her gaze after a pause and nods. "Aye, we."

Emma considers this for a moment, rolling the words around in her head. "Say you succeed in killing Rumplestiltskin. Then what?"

"Then I have my revenge." he replies as if it's the most natural answer in the world. "What more could I want?"

Emma could tell him about Regina almost killing Henry and her being this close to killing Regina with her own bare hands as a result. She could.

The words don't come to her mouth, though, and her throat feels dry.

-/-

They make land a few days later, as promised. Hook insists he has a clear cut path for them to follow, map in hand, but he cautions her nonetheless. It's a few days journey from the shore to the castle, but there's also a few fearsome creatures in between.

Emma asks him exactly what he means by that. Hook just replies he's glad she's slayed a dragon before.

It's not exactly reassuring.

The first night goes by just fine. They walk. Then, they walk some more. Hook idly comments he wishes Wonderland had more horses and, even though Emma has never been on a horse in her life, she finds herself agreeing with him.

Hook teaches her how to light a fire in a way that won't burn out within five minutes of being lit and Emma is grateful for the warmth (and maybe the careful way he puts his hand over hers when demonstrating, but she tells herself that isn't really relevant). He ends up bringing back some sort of meat for dinner (from an animal she can't even pronounce the name of) and does his best to entertain Emma with tales of various creatures he's encountered in Wonderland.

Out of all of them, Emma has to say she hates the idea of the Jabberwocky - apparently a monster controlled by a woman of the same name - the most.

After their makeshift meal, he strips off his coat and rests the length of it on the ground.

"What are you doing?" Emma asks, raising an eyebrow at the display.

"Would you rather sleep on the forest floor, Swan? Hardly comfortable."

He has _got_ to be the world's worst villain.

She gapes a little at the show of kindness. "I mean, I've done it before. Aren't you going to sleep, too?"

"That doesn't mean you should have to, Swan. Go on then. One of us has to stay awake in case something goes bump in the night, eh?"

Emma frowns. "We'll take shifts. That's fair."

"Swan," Hook starts, nearly protesting.

"No. It won't do any good if either of us isn't at our full energy." Emma argues. "We'll take shifts."

He relents, but insists that she take the first shift.

"I'm going to be so pissed if you leave me in the middle of these creepy woods and that making me sleep first is just your excuse," Emma mumbles, curling up on the leather.

"I think I'd have plenty of opportunity to abandon you by now." His voice comes from a few feet away. "I'd want to come back for my coat, as well."

Emma is too tired to muffle the laugh.

-/-

It's a good thing she insisted on the both of them sleeping, as it turns out. They need the rest the next morning.

They walk peacefully for a few hours, making idle conversation. It's not until Emma's legs start to ache that the two of them hear a roar. Sure enough, they're just able to make out the outline of its owner.

"What the hell is that?" Emma asks in a panic, eyeing the ugly looking creature making its descent towards them.

"That," Hook rasps, looking up towards the beast. "is the Jabberwocky."

"So, run?"

He nods. "Aye, run."

They do, Emma sprinting in the opposite direction of the Jabberwocky and Hook hot on her heels.

Hook curses, pulls her up to him, and hides them both behind the trunk of a tree.

"We're going to have to kill it," he whispers in her ear. "The Jabberwocky, we need to kill it."

Emma has to resist the urge to shout her reply. " _What_? How?"

"Didn't you say you slayed a dragon?"

"I did, but that was pretty much sheer luck," she explains reluctantly, back still against him.

He groans. "I reckon we could use some of your sheer luck about now, Swan. How did you kill it?"

She frowns. "I just...threw the sword at its heart."

"Do you reckon you can try that again?" he suggests, pulling the sword from its position on her belt and placing it into her hands.

Emma eyes it with a measure of hesitation.

"Emma," he insists, pulling her ever-so-slightly closer to him. "You can do it."

She exhales, turning around to face the beast that's only feet from them now and throws the sword with everything she has.

It's a clean shot and the Jabberwocky droops down to the floor - its death almost immediate.

Killian gives her a victorious grin, eyeing her with what can only be described as sheer admiration. "See, Swan? Told you you could do it."

Emma, on the other hand, is thoroughly confused. "How the hell do I keep on getting it right on target?"

Hook pulls the sword out of the beast and hands it to her with a grin. "You should give yourself more credit, love. Hardly ever handled a sword and slayed two beasts with one in a week. The Savior, indeed."

She grimaces, doing her best to rub the oddly colored blood off of the sword and into the grass.

-/-

They make it to the castle a few days later, with no further meetings with Wonderland monsters. Instead, they get the more human variation of monster.

"I'd advise you get out your sword," Hook instructs carefully as they enter the lavish grounds, the place resembling a chessboard more than anything else. "You may be getting some practice in your swordfighting skills, love."

Emma groans, drawing her sword.

As Hook predicted, a handful of guards approach the intruders, immediately surrounding them. Emma presses her back to his, and they manage to fend them off well enough. A couple of practiced movements and the two guards facing her are out cold.

"We make quite the team." Hook grins, shouting the words to her while he spars with three others.

She just moves over to help him as much as she can.

"To your left!" Hook shouts and, sure enough, there's a guard approaching her from her left. She meets the guard's strike and quickly disarms him, knocking him out with the butt of her sword.

Emma turns around to face Hook, noticing another guard coming up behind him after he dispatches the other three. "Behind you!"

He quickly moves to fight the guard behind him with a flourish of his long, leather coat. Emma sighs in relief for a moment, noticing no other guards besides the one Hook is currently fending off left to deal with.

She's about to relay the information to him when a hand clamps over her mouth. Emma frantically tries to fight him off as much as she can. It's no use, given the man's death grip.

When she gets a final look at the grounds, Hook is nowhere to be seen.

-/-

Emma is roughly deposited in a dungeon and informed that the queen would see her shortly to deliver her sentencing. They take her sword and her gun - eyeing the latter suspiciously. A few moments later, an older woman donning a crown walks into the room.

So much for Cora already being long gone, she thinks.

"You broke into my home with Captain Hook, I hear." the woman begins, eyeing her with what can only be described as distaste. "He fled before we could get to him, as I'm sure you'll be pleased to know. Why, he didn't even look back when my guards took you."

Emma's mouth presses into a thin line.

This is what she gets for trusting a pirate.

"Who are you, anyway?" Cora asks, running a finger down Emma's face through the bars of the cell.

Emma rocks her head back sharply. "Hardly any of your business."

"Hook has found a plaything to amuse him, I suppose?" Cora grins, the sight vicious and chilling. "And I suppose he's left you behind just the same. That's the thing with men like that, they just leave you out to dry."

Emma tries not to let her reaction show, but she does all the same.

"It's a shame, that people still think with their hearts rather than their brains. An even greater shame that he's leaving you to your execution." Cora tuts.

Of course, Emma's punishment is execution. Like mother, like daughter she supposes.

She doesn't say anything, though Cora seems to wait for her to. She's the type that likes playing with her prey, but Emma is hardly in the mood for games. Cora leaves a few minutes later, already bored.

It isn't the first time a man has left her in a cell, but Emma vows it will be the last. She's never been the damsel in distress type, anyway. As soon as the guard posted near her cell leaves for his break, she quickly takes the bindings around the spoons in the cell.

Within a few seconds of jimmying the wires, the lock comes free. For all of the Queen of Heart's harshness, her security was nothing less than pathetic.

Emma races out the cell the second she gets the opportunity, ducking into the dingy hall. She doesn't get ten feet before she realizes there's a figure at the end of the hall. Emma almost ducks out to hide somewhere before she recognizes just who that figure has to be.

Hook.

 _He came back._

Emma was able to get herself out just fine, but it's a relief that he hasn't completely abandoned her.

"Swan?" he asks, sword pointed in her direction and seemingly stunned at the sight of her.

She says his name as a sigh of relief. "Hook."

"What the hell are you doing?" Hook teases her with a grin. "You're depriving me of a dashing rescue."

"Sorry." Emma isn't, but they're both grinning anyway. "The only one who saves me is me."

He concedes easily, sliding his sword back into its sheath and guiding her out of the entrance to the dungeon. "Fair enough."

-/-

The looking glass, as it turns out, is really just a big, fancy looking mirror. The room it's hosted in is lavish and spacious, but the only thing that's in it is the colossal mirror.

Emma raises an eyebrow. "That's how we're getting home?"

"Aye." he nods. "Just walk through the glass and think of where you want to be."

Just as he says the words, they hear the clacking of heels from down the hall.

"Hide." Hook instructs fiercely, leading her to the back of the room and tugging her behind the giant mirror. "Don't come out until I tell you to, Swan."

She reluctantly obeys. Sure enough, she hears footsteps enter the room. Emma risks letting her head out by a fraction to watch what happens, her figure mainly protected by the curtains around the mirror.

"I must say, Captain, I'm almost impressed with your nerve." Cora purrs, stalking up to Hook. He looks as if she's swallowed something particularly unpleasant. "Breaking into my own home after betraying me? Setting free my prisoners?"

"I would have thought you'd be long gone, by now, in pursuit of your daughter." Hook grits out.

"I would. I considered it, but then I just knew that I had to wait it out. I had to wait until she was completely vulnerable. Wrecked. Broken beyond repair. I couldn't do with having Gold on my tail until I knew that I'd be able to finish what needs to be done."

 _Mother of the year_ , Emma thinks to herself sarcastically.

"But first," Cora states, her voice using any false trace of warmth. "We have a score to settle."

Cora is going to kill him.

He meets Emma's eyes and mouths the word _'go'_.

She is going to _kill him_.

Emma has always been terrible at doing what she's told. She shoves Hook out of the way as he looks on in horror.

Cora sticks her hand in her chest and it's one of the weirdest feelings she's ever experienced.

"Swan, what did you do?" Hook practically roars the words, but he doesn't have the opportunity to say much more before Cora binds him against the wall and puts a gag over his mouth.

The Queen of Hearts studies Emma calmly, as if she's found a captivating new science project to explore. "This is interesting. Risking your life for some low-life pirate?"

"Really?" Emma rasps, looking back to meet Hook's furious eyes. "Getting criticism from someone who plots how to make their daughter's life miserable?"

"Such insolence. I'll kill him after I'm done with you." Cora scowls. "Oh, you foolish girl. Don't you know? Love is weakness."

This is it. She's going to die because of some batshit crazy witch tearing her heart out. Her gaze directs towards Hook one last time and he's still struggling with everything he has against his restraints, his expression tormented.

Cora tugs.

Emma clenches her eyes shut, anticipating the pain that never comes.

She opens her eyes a moment later, shocked to discover her heart intact and Cora knocked out cold on her own floor.

 _No_ , she thinks. _It's strength._

Hook rushes to Emma the moment his binds start to give into his struggles, pulling her into his arms.

"Never do that again," he curses, the words leaving his mouth in a wheeze. "Never, you hear me, Emma?"

Emma just sags against him in relief. "What the hell just happened?!"

"I've no idea," Hook replies, walking away from her towards the woman she just - apparently - knocked out. "I'm willing to gamble you're more powerful than you thought, Swan, though I've held this assumption since we met."

Hook grabs his namesake from Cora's prone form, clicking it back on in a quick movement. He turns back towards her. "I don't know how much time you have, Swan."

"You?" she repeats, puzzled. "What happened to we?"

He only sighs. "Trust me, Swan. _We_ need to get through the looking glass quickly."

Emma still looks at him in concern.

"I'll be right behind you." he reassures her, putting a hand on her back and directing her towards the looking glass. "Just jump through it, love. And remember to breathe."

She jumps.

-/-

Emma, weirdly enough, emerges through a mirror in Mary Margaret's apartment.

"Mom!" Henry exclaims, racing towards her from his post at the kitchen counter and giving her a massive hug she can't help but return.

"Thank God you're okay." Emma exclaims, pressing a kiss into his hair and exhaling in relief.

"Henry? What's-" David's words leave him as soon as he spots the two of them, Mary Margaret at his heels.

"Emma!" They both exclaim, embracing her along with Henry.

Mary Margaret asks, "Where were you?"

David's question is, "How did you get back."

She hugs them back fiercely for a moment, glad to see them despite how convoluted and weird everything still feels to her. Emma steps back in an effort to catch her breath.

They're all looking at her expectantly, expecting an answer.

"I was in Wonderland and, I guess I had help. I...he...Hook was supposed to follow me here." Emma frowns, eyeing the mirror as if it will spit him out at any second. "He was supposed to be right after me."

"Hook?" Henry questions, practically bouncing at the announcement. "Like, Captain Hook from Peter Pan?"

Her parents share troubled looks, but all she can do is stare at the mirror.

"He was supposed to follow me through." Emma repeats.

She waits there for a while, eyeing the mirror in hopes that he falls through it.

He never does.

-/-

She has magic, she finds out. That's the explanation given to her by Gold (which makes her think of another person, but that's a thought she's trying to put to rest) and Emma doesn't know what the hell to do with that.

Things almost go back to normal, whatever that could mean in a town full of fairytale characters. Cora doesn't make an appearance and neither does Hook.

-/-

Emma likes coming down to the docks to think. She always has. It's peaceful, the ocean, and she finds herself a little reassured by the sight of it. Albeit, the way she's idly tossing rocks into the ocean is far from relaxing.

She's _not_ worried, dammit.

One of her rock skips feels a little too aggressive and she swears she hears a _thump_ when she shouldn't. Emma frowns out the sound, then tries again. She hears another _thump_.

There has _got_ to be something there.

Emma hears a voice, not far away at all. "Oi, Swan, stop throwing rocks at my ship!"

She can't bite back her laugh and Hook appears, moving down to help her on board. Emma takes his hand without hesitation. He tugs her upwards and immediately into a fierce hug.

"You have no idea how happy I am to see you." she mutters into his shoulder with a smile. "I didn't know what the hell happened to you."

He grins into her hair. "And I, you. I just got into port and noticed you there already. I have to say, Swan, I'm impressed with your timing."

Emma leans back from his embrace. "I wish I could say the same.

"I shattered the mirror after you left." Hook reveals quickly. "That prevented Cora from ever using it again; I thought that should buy you time to protect your boy."

"It also prevented you from leaving," Emma points out, feeling as if she's stating the obvious.

Why would he sacrifice his shot at leaving for someone he's never met? She searches his eyes for a lie she doesn't find.

"I managed to get here, didn't I?" he states with a smile, arms still resting around her back. "I told you I hate those buggering rabbits, but it was a risk I was willing to take."

"How did you get past Cora?"

"Your magic rendered her unconscious for quite a while, Swan. I was able to flee the castle and get back to my ship unscathed."

 _Truth. Truth. Truth._

She really is relieved to see him and can't hide the small smile returning to her face.

"It truly is a pleasure to see you again, Emma." he intones softly, bringing his hand up to rest against the corner of her smile. "Even given the circumstances."

The _circumstances_.

He may as well have dropped a bucket of cold water over them.

"Right," Emma replies, voice clipped. She steps back until they have a solid foot between them and tries not to notice the hurt expression on his face. For some reason the additional detail of his real motivation didn't factor in with her worrying while they were separated. "Your revenge. That's why you're here."

"Aye," he replies, looking down at his boots. "That I am."

"You do know that you can't kill Gold, right?" Emma says, studying the nuances of his expression as he frowns. "He's immortal. He has magic. You'd die before he would or worse even if you managed to kill him."

Killian's expression hardens. "Even demons can be killed, Swan. I found a way and intend to use it."

"The dagger?" she questions, eyes flickering to where his tattoo is covered by his sleeve. "Is that your way?"

"No." he answers shortly. "It's not. I assure you, however, he is going to die by my hand. There is more than one way to kill him."

"I can't let you do that." she tells him, voice sharp. "What happens to the Dark One when he's dead?"

Hook looks at her in what appears to be disbelief. "I thought we had a deal, Swan."

"I never agreed to helping you kill someone, no matter their crimes."

"Should I tell you how he crushed her heart in his hand after she told him she didn't love him?" he starts accusingly, taking a step towards her than she matches with a step back. "How miserable she was when she fled to my ship? Would you understand, then?"

 _More than you know_ , she could say. Emma could think of Graham and almost Henry and God, she still saved Regina and met him in the process. It's not forgiveness, by any means, and it's not accountability. Still, it's better than the alternative.

The alternative is wasting her life with an appetite for vengeance and anger she'll end up killing herself with. Hook is almost the personification of it.

She doesn't say anything and Emma swears her cowardice (afraid to reveal herself, trust him) is going to bite her in the ass.

Hook just gives her a disbelieving, mocking laugh at her silence. "It didn't take long for our reunion to turn sour, did it?"

Emma doesn't say anything when she leaves.

-/-

Emma keeps her eyes peeled on the pawn shop, as if expecting to catch him in the act and prevent him before it's too late. She doesn't so much as see the end of his coat for those few weeks, even if David starts asking her why she's been acting so skittish and Mary Margaret looks worried and Henry asks her why she doesn't seem completely happy, even after she'd gotten home and broken the curse.

She _is_ happy. Emma is happy with Henry and getting there with her parents.

Emma is also just a little worried, against her best judgement.

She doesn't tell them about seeing Hook again, about where the Jolly Roger is sitting in port. Emma doesn't tell them about Hook's pursuit of revenge. Just tells them he helped her get back home and that's the end of that story.

If he dies (or something even worse), at least some people will be left with an almost positive impression of him.

-/-

Emma is in the sheriff station alone one night when she hears movement.

"Killian," she sighs, calling out to where she's sure he's hiding. Maybe his real name would incite a reaction, as foreign as it feels on her tongue. "What are you doing?"

He steps into her line of vision from across the hallway. "Fitting, in a way, that we'd run into each other again as a break-in."

"We need to talk."

"I've found that whenever a woman says that, I'm not in for a pleasant conversation," Hook states, ambling up to where she's standing until there are only inches between them.

Emma rolls her eyes, taking in a deep breath and bracing herself against her desk before replying to him. "Pleasant or not, you're getting one."

"As if I'd deny you anything, Swan."

He says the words offhandedly, but she narrows her eyes all the same.

"I can't let you kill Gold."

Killian nods. "So you've said."

"And you haven't."

"Yet." he amends her statement. "I haven't yet."

Emma crosses her arms around herself. "Why not?"

Killian shrugs. "I suppose I haven't had the occasion to."

"Really?" she asks, raising an eyebrow in disbelief. "As someone who has spent the last few weeks watching Gold's shop, you've had plenty of opportunity."

He scrubs at his face with his hand in frustration. "Are you trying to tell me I'm not acting quickly enough in something you're determined to prevent me from doing, Swan?"

"I…" she words fail her, yet again, but she's determined to get them out all the same. "When you asked me if I had ever been in love. I told you no, then I told you maybe I was once."

Hook looks surprised by her rapid change in subject, but remains silent in an effort to get her to continue.

"I lied the second time, too." she reveals, digging her hands into her desk. "It was more than once. I loved Henry's father, yeah, but when I first came to Storybrooke...there was a different sheriff in town. Graham. Regina had some sick sort of control over him, but he broke from it, I think. Towards the end, anyway."

Emma takes a deep breath before continuing. Killian seems to be studying her carefully.

"I kissed him where we're standing, right now. He told me he _remembered_ and he thanked me. Then, he just collapsed. I couldn't wake him up. Now that I realize...the curse, the town, _everything_ \- his death couldn't have been an accident."

"You think Regina killed him." he observes, voice low. "That she had control over his heart and crushed it."

Emma gives him a self-depreciating laugh. "Sounds familiar, huh? Even if she didn't, she ruined my life. Tore me away from my parents, took everything from me. She even almost killed Henry in her effort to kill me."

He tilts his head, eyes trained on hers. "And you don't want revenge for what she's done to you."

"What I want and what's good for me and everyone else are sometimes two different things, Killian." she shrugs. "I know what it's like to hate someone for what they've done to you, to want them to feel just a fraction of the misery you're feeling. I swear I almost strangled Regina for what she did to Henry."

"Why didn't you?"

"Take away revenge and what's left?" Emma questions him as coolly as she can manage. "It has to eat away at you, doesn't it?"

"That's beside the point, Swan." he warns.

"Is it?" she challenges, taking a step closer to him. "Regina took enough from me already. I'm not letting her take _this_ from me - who I am. You shouldn't with Gold, either."

Hook scoffs in disbelief. "So you think he should be permitted to live after what he's done?"

"Do you know how I wound up in Wonderland?"

He seems more drained by the conversation by the minute. "A portal through a hat, you've told me."

"A wraith marked Regina." Emma continues, ignoring his commentary. "We decided we wouldn't let her die. We opened the portal, baited the wraith into it. The problem was that the wraith sucked me in, too."

"That was bloody stupid of you. That would hardly be blood on your hands to let her die."

"Maybe." Emma says the words matter-of-factly. "I thought so at first, but it worked out, didn't it?"

He sighs. "I met you, so I'd say so."

She doesn't know how to reply to that.

"Just, think about it." Emma cautions, lifting a hand up in front of him defensively as if that will stop him from storming out and killing Gold. "I think Henry is what prevented me from killing Regina right then and there, or even letting her die. I hope you can find something that does the same for you."

She's got a foot out of the door when he finally replies.

"I think I already have."

Emma whips around to face him, to ask him to repeat what he's just said because she's sure she misheard him. He has her in his arms before she has a chance to and she's pressing her lips to his the second he ducks his head down to meet her.

" _Finally_." he mutters.

-/-

Emma may have more explaining to do to her family about the pirate she met in Wonderland, but for now she couldn't be happier.


End file.
